USC scrimmage offers Trojans glimpse at good and bad

•The offense is full of talented skill players and should score points, but it hardly resembled a well-oiled unit and needs every practice the next two weeks to master the tempo of the no-huddle offense.

•Defensive tackles Leonard Williams and Antwaun Woods were sorely missed as even the reserve offense moved the ball against the interior linemen. “There were some pretty significant guys that didn’t participate that if it were a game day probably would have,” USC coach Steve Sarkisian said.

•Freshman wide receiver Juju Smith is poised to have a breakout season and needs to abandon thoughts of playing defense. Smith sometimes looks like USC’s best receiver and did not wilt during the scrimmage. He could easily start. Smith caught a 9-yard touchdown pass and made a leaping grab on the sideline for a 22-yard reception.

•Offensive lineman Aundrey Walker needs to escape the doghouse. Walker’s slower-than-anticipated recovery from a fractured ankle has frustrated the coaching staff and he wore a yellow no-contact jersey during the scrimmage, which is almost unheard of for a linemen. It could have been a way to motivate him.

•Tailback Justin Davis was the top back of the scrimmage and offers a quicker running style than starter Javorius Allen or Tre Madden. Davis’ biggest challenge will be to stay healthy after he broke his ankle last season.

Austin surgery

Freshman offensive lineman Jordan Austin underwent hip surgery and will be out for the season. Austin will have surgery on his other hip once he recovers from the first operation.

Freshmen emerge

Defensive coordinator Justin Wilcox singled out cornerback Jonathan Lockett and safety John Plattenburg as freshmen who stood out during Wednesday night’s scrimmage. Lockett blocked a field goal and tackled wide receiver Ajene Harris for a loss on a bubble screen.

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“They showed up and did a good job,” Wilcox said.

Harris is doing well in camp and broke a nice run after a short catch but then had the ball stripped by cornerback Kevon Seymour.

“It was good for Ajene, who’s had a great training camp, to come in and now he’s getting tackled for the first time and boom, the ball comes out,” Sarkisian said. “There’s a lot of little things for individuals to work on that ultimately will make us better as a team. When you’ve got young players out there, you go through growing pains.”

One freshman relatively quiet is wide receiver Steven Mitchell, who was sidelined last year with torn knee ligaments.

“He’s been a little sore for the past four or five days,” Sarkisian said.

Kessler scare

It looked like quarterback Cody Kessler got injured during the scrimmage when he rolled to the ground after a botched snap, but Sarkisian said his quarterback was fine. Kessler laid on the ground motionless before gingerly returning to the huddle.

“It was probably one of the worst football plays I’ve ever seen,” Sarkisian said.

Sarkisian said Kessler’s only injury was “bruised pride or bruised ego. I said it could have been a lot worse. There could have been 94,000 people here.”

Silly penalties

Two successful plays resulted in penalties during the scrimmage. Cornerback Chris Hawkins spiked the ball after an interception and received an unsportsmanlike penalty. Wide receiver Victor Blackwell caught an 80-yard touchdown pass from Max Browne but then flipped the ball on to the chest of cornerback Devian Shelton, who was on the ground. Blackwell was spoken to by Sarkisian and assistant coach Tee Martin after the play.